On the roof of Southern Resources are the makingsof the world's largest QR code. WCNC photo

If you drive past a scrap yard in Charlotte's NoDa neighborhood you won't see it, no matter how hard you look.

There, up on the roof of Southern Resources, are the makings of the world's largest QR code. On Monday, painters were busy laying down a pattern of black and white squares. The finished product will cover most of the 10,000 square feet of space. It'll be so big, each of the pixels will be at least one square meter.

QR codes (short for quick response) are bar codes that can be scanned with smartphones. An app then takes you directly to a specific website. The QR code in NoDa will be easily visible from planes.

"As you're flying toward the skyline of Charlotte," says Southern Resources' Mark Clackum, "we just happen to be located in a really strategic location."

The code is also big enough to see from satellite imagery, which means it'll show up when someone looks at Southern Resources on Google Earth or Google Maps.

"Someone sitting at home on their computer can see this bar code, put their phone up to it, and it'll take them to the website for the project," said Ryan Stachurski of Hackerspace Charlotte.

His group, a non-profit in NoDa that serves as a venue for innovative projects, is behind the idea. They pitched it to Clackum, who liked it.

"It made perfect sense," added Stachurski. "He happened to have a large roof. We happened to need a large roof. And we just put the two together."

The code is designed to create a little more web traffic for Hackerspace and Southern Resources.

But is there a bigger point?

"This one doesn't have that much of a practical purpose other than it's a fun project," said Stachurski. "It beats sitting around watching TV."

The painters hope to be finished and to have their world record certified by Guinness on Wednesday.

NewsChannel 36 will head back up with AirStar 36 to take a picture and see if it works.